PKL 2023-24: U Mumba, Haryana Steelers play out high-octane tie; Tamil Thalaivas snap losing run

U Mumba and Haryana Steelers played out a highly entertaining high octane 44-44 tie in the final game of PKL Season 10’s leg at the DOME by NSCI on Wednesday. While Jaideep Dahiya’s brilliant defending earned him 8 tackle points, the real star of the game was Amirmohammad Zafardanesh, who almost single-handedly got his side a deserved tie with 14 raid points. The Haryana Steelers kicked off at a blistering pace and had, within minutes, reduced the U Mumba numbers on the mat. It wasn’t just via raiding though, as Jaideep Dahiya in defence was imperious, logging an impressive 4 raid points in the first half itself — over half of the Haryana Steelers’ total for the period. They inflicted the first ALL OUT of the game in the seventh minute to take a 11-6 lead and things looked bleak for the home side. In the next quarter of the game though U Mumba’s team rallied together, Amirmohammad Zafardanesh’s ability to constantly pick up bonus points, and Siddharth Desai’s SUPER RAID at the end of the half drawing them to within three to end the half. Despite having only three players on the mat at the beginning of the second half, the Haryana Steelers, courtesy of a SUPER TACKLE and some brilliant raiding, streaked into a 9 point lead within two minutes. The see-saw nature of the encounter ensured that they wouldn’t have the last say, as U Mumba slowly edged their way back. It took them nine minutes of the half, but eventually they inflicted an ALL OUT to erase that nine point deficit to draw level at 30 apiece. The momentum swung the other way almost immediately as the Haryana Steelers defence held together and created a second ALL OUT to take a five point lead. U Mumba inflicted a second ALL OUT to draw level at 44 apiece, with 40 seconds left. Neither team could break the deadlock in the dying seconds as they took a deserved point apiece. Narender, Sahil guide Tamil Thalaivas to 19-point win against UP Yoddhas Tamil Thalaivas ended their 7-game winless run with a resounding 46-27 victory over UP Yoddhas. Thalaivas raider Narender starred with 14 raid points, while left corner defender Sahil Gulia claimed 5 tackle points. Tamil Thalaivas got off to a fantastic start and needed just 7 minutes to inflict the first ALL OUT and soar to an 11-2 lead. Both of their raiders, Narender and Ajinkya Pawar, were in really good touch and made the difference in the first half. Neither of UP Yoddhas’ raiders - Pardeep Narwal nor Surender Gill - were effective and it took a couple of key raids from Vijay Malik for them to get going. Tamil Thalaivas ended the first half with an 8-point lead at 19-11 and were in complete control of the game. The second half was more of the same as Narender returned to cause further trouble for the UP Yoddhas. The youngster produced 2 multi-point raids to lead his side to a second ALL OUT and further extend their lead. He slipped past the defensive duo of Nitesh Kumar and Gurdeep to earn the Thalaivas 4 points and take them to a 29-15 lead in the 26th minute. Pardeep endured a difficult outing and was sent to the bench for the 7th time in 11 raids, in the 30th minute, as the UP Yoddhas were reduced to 3 men and trailed by 15 points. The UP Yoddhas, on their part, did well to hold on and a SUPER TACKLE from Nitin Panwar helped their cause, but it still was not enough. Another multi-point raid from Narender saw a 3rd ALL OUT inflicted on the UP Yoddhas and that saw the Thalaivas pick up their 1st win in 8 games. The result also marked the Yoddhas’ 4th loss on the trot.